


together

by civillove



Series: plans wrapped in rubber bands [19]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 00:36:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19188355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/civillove/pseuds/civillove
Summary: Prompt from anon: Rio warns Beth that he’s probably no good for her/she’s better off finding a “nice” guy and she strongly disagrees. + another anon asking for slow intimate sex.--She groans, running a hand over her face and pinching the bridge of her nose because, “I know. But I’m not letting all that work go to waste. Maybe orange scones will make Carlita less homicidal.”Rio snorts and takes a step towards the desk, sticking his hands in his pockets as he looks with interest at the homemade cinnamon rolls, “Doubtful but it’s the thought that counts.”





	together

**Author's Note:**

> AN1: First prompt is slightly altered but the general gist remains. Thanks for an awesome prompt. 
> 
> AN2: I get so many amazing prompts and all that I ask is that you guys patient with me; I basically take random prompts and figure out how to put them together in a timeline, so sometimes I take requests out of order based on what fits best. I DO really appreciate all the prompts, reading, reviews and kudos y’all have given me—the support is wild and means so much. THANK YOU <3

Even after all this time, the cold metal of a gun feels so strange in her hands.

It’s something she has to get used to because her body wants to reject it, wants her to put the safety on and tuck it away, out of sight, out of mind. Rio keeps telling her that she has to _accept_ the weight of it, to use it as an extension of herself or it’ll never work properly. She watches him sometimes and knows he’s right—the way he holds himself, angles his body when he takes his gun out of his waistband, when he shoots; it’s fluid because it’s a part of him.

She almost envies how easy it all looks.

And honestly the last place she wants to be is in an empty warehouse, with Rio, having him re-teach her how to shoot a gun, yet, here they are.

_He’s watching her take the gun out of her purse as she searches for something at the bottom, she can feel it, knows it’s a mistake the moment she sets it on the counter._

_“What, it bite you?”_

_Beth raises an eyebrow but doesn’t look at him, frowns into the black hole of her purse. “It might, you never know.”_

_“You’re never gonna shoot right if you’re afraid of your gun.”_

_She sighs and sets her bag down, giving him a face that looks more defiant than it feels. “I’m not afraid.”_

_He nods slowly and picks her gun up easily and flips the safety off, putting the weapon into her hands. Beth flinches almost instantly, proving his point, but he doesn’t let up. Instead, he wraps her finger around the trigger and presses the barrel against his chest._

_“Rio—” She tries to protest, looks everywhere other than where he’s aiming._

_“Nah, come on, look here,” He hooks his thumb under her chin and forces her gaze back on his and waits a moment._

_Beth’s handled her gun a few times recently, but it’s mostly been out of instinct—the last tangible time she remembers is aiming it at Warez but she hasn’t fired since…_

_She squirms in his grasp, tries to take a step back from him but he won’t let her, his hands tightening a little on her where it almost hurts—he’s trying to make a point. She lets out a slow breath and concentrates on him, the steady pulse in his thumb, his even breathing in and out, the warmth roughness of his skin…it’s enough to ground her to stand still._

_“We need to be able to depend on each other, yeah? Which includes this. You can’t hesitate when you shoot and you can’t be afraid of what you’re gonna hit.”_

_She swallows; it’s not something she planned on having trouble with. When he originally taught her how to shoot her gun, it’d been easy; the power and weight of it in her hand, the cold metal kissing her skin…she almost_ liked _it. But now? After using it? After the finality of what it can do, seeing it firsthand?_

_It’s all different._

_But he’s right, of course he’s right; she needs to be able to shoot a gun correctly because if she’s learned anything, it’s that she never knows when she’s going to need it._

_Rio pauses a moment and forces her finger to press the trigger and Beth gasps but—_

_all it does is click._

_Her heart is hammering in her ears, mouth gone completely dry because oh…oh right._

_“It’s also pointless if it’s not loaded.” He licks his lips, pulling back from her and allowing her hands to fall with the gun between her fingers. She nearly forgot that she took the bullets out. Ironically it felt_ safer _that way. He’s not quite disappointed, it’s not that, but a shadow of something passes over his face._

_Full clip adds a pound—she can’t believe she forgot that too._

“Feet further apart,” Rio says, taking a step up behind her. She shivers a little as a cold chill wraps its way around her spine like ivy, trying to relax by cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders.

She’s aiming, messily, across an empty warehouse at a chair that’s at the far end. It’s green with chipping paint and a missing leg but it’ll do for a target, something bigger would be nicer but she’s not about to tell Rio that. She already feels a little foolish that he has to help her with this again. Beth knows it’s not a one-and-done thing but instead of practicing on her own she allowed herself to get freaked out over an inanimate object.

“Breathe.” He whispers, lips so close to her ear that it _has_ to be on purpose and her stomach flutters ridiculously at his proximity.

She sighs out and purposely drags oxygen into her lungs and lets it out slowly. “I am breathing.”

He smirks a little and she doesn’t have to see his face to know he’s amused, “Breathe less like it’s hard.”

Beth wants to say a million little things that fly through her mind at once—how that’s easy for him to say because he already knows how to aim and shoot a gun, how he’s pressed against her back and it’s really distracting, how she’s hyperaware of his fingers on her hip, slipping under the t-shirt she has on to feel her skin, how his voice strokes the back of her neck and sets her nerve endings on fire. All of this, racing through her head and yet she never utters one syllable of it.

Instead, she squirms a little under his touch and looks at him over her shoulder; his eyelashes look ridiculously long at this angle. “You’re squeezing me too hard.”

Rio hums softly, his eyes dancing over her face and outlining her lips like a caress. “I could squeeze harder,” His thumb traces a circle around her hip bone, “but I want you to concentrate.”

“And how am I supposed to do that with you breathing down my neck?” She turns to look back towards the target, glancing down at her feet to reposition them.

He presses a kiss to her shoulder just because he can and shifts her hands, fixing her aim. Beth tries to focus on anything that’s not what they’re doing right now, which is also a big no-no, but…she doesn’t want to do this, she doesn’t want to think about a situation where she has to use her gun again.

“Veto called and said he wants to meet tomorrow.”

His finger brushes over the tops of hers on the gun. “He called you?” He seems a little surprised but when she nods, he continues with, “Carlita also left me the same message.”

She goes still under his embrace and she knows he can feel it when he presses closer against her and squeezes her waist. She wants to tell him she _really_ doesn’t like that she calls him, that she wants him to open up about why Carlita still has his number in the first place or just instinctively knows how to get in contact with him. Her mind fogs over with possibilities and it’s not until Rio presses his knee into the back of her leg to scoot her feet a little further apart does she blink back into this conversation.

“She'll be there this time.” He tells her, pulling back to round in front of her, his eyes scanning her body and nodding. “Go head.”

She lets out a slow breath and aims but she’s pretty sure she accidently closes one eye when she shoots. The gunshot is loud and reverberating in the large, metallic space and she…isn’t sure what she hits but it’s not the chair.

“Can I get closer? I feel like when I need to use my gun, I’m close range anyways.”

Rio hums a little, sticking his hands in his pockets as he watches her. He nods his head and Beth takes three large steps forward, tries to position herself as he’s taught her but she still misses the chair when she shoots.

He smirks a little, “Don’t get frustrated, mami. You’re gettin’ a little better.” Rio moves behind her and begins guiding her all over again, his movements practiced, fluid and warm. “Regardless of what Veto says about her attitude bein' 'distasteful' to him—he likes her. Likes that she's a bit unpredictable otherwise he wouldn't keep her around.”

Beth sighs and clicks the chamber back to aim. Rio doesn’t move her hands this time but then again, he likes having her fail a lot so she can feel the difference of when she’s doing something correctly. And maybe it's the confidence of the rifle in her hands but unasked questions start bubbling up from inside her ribcage.

“How long did you work with her?” She knows it’s a long time but doesn’t know the years.

Rio’s quiet a moment, soft breath of air leaving his nose. This give and take between them is as fragile as her holding this gun. They’ve come a long way of being honest with one another, but sometimes she worries about pressing too hard, too fast.  

“Four years.” That’s…longer than she expected, “Stop winkin’ at the target, aim with both eyes open.”

She feels herself blush because oops, “You…can’t even see me.”

A soft laugh leaves his lips, his hand coming around to squeeze her hip again but it has nothing to do with fixing her position. “I know what you're doin', if you were to shoot again, you'd miss.”

Beth makes sure both of her eyes are open and squints at the target, trying to make the gun an extension of her arm but she can't stop the foreign feeling of something deadly at her fingertips—it feels so heavy, like she might sink through the floor.

She focuses elsewhere once again, curbing back to his response about how long he’s worked with Carlita. “And?”

Rio moves to the side of her, adjusting the back of the beanie on his head so it covers the top of his ears better. He’s watching her, gaze sliding along the profile of her face and when she looks at him the lines of his face aren’t pulling. He’s not frustrated, not yet, but he’s getting to the point where he’s not sure where she’s going with this—and Rio does _not_ like getting backed into a corner.

“And what? What you want me to tell you?”

She lets her arms fall again and turns to face him, “I want you to tell me what her deal is with you.”

He smirks, brushing hair out of her face, “Jealously looks good on you, ma.”

Beth smacks his hand away, a small eyeroll accompanying what she’s going to say, “I’m not jealous,” or, well, that’s not _completely_ the reason anyways. There’s something more important that she’s concerned about, “I’m worried that she's going to mess up our business plans because of your shared past.”

She can see a struggle on his face to remain patient with her, to not snap that she needs to mind her own business as he takes a deep breath into his lungs and holds it there a moment. She shakes her head because she’s not sure if he just refuses to _see_ the problem or doesn’t think it’s a big deal but they need to talk about it.

Whatever he’s about to say is buried under something else, a cool indifference slipping over his body like a glove, “Why don’t you worry ‘bout what you’re gonna say to Veto, I’ll handle Carlita.”

But _that’s_ the problem, “Four years together and you're trying to tell me that you just what? walked away? started fresh? That there’s no baggage there?”

Rio takes a step towards her and slips the gun from her fingertips, inspecting it like he’s checking the chamber but she thinks he just wants to do something with his hands as he speaks. “Our…partnership was cut short when she tried to kill me.”

Her mouth opens a little because _what?_ He mentioned that partners had gone after him before, but part of her never thought he was serious. He glances up at her and smirks at the goldfish expression on her face, her cheeks dotting the softest bit of pinks at her naivety.

“I told you; it’s kill or be killed darlin’. She saw an opportunity and she took it.”

She swallows as he hands the gun back to her, a gentle hand falling to her waist as he turns her back towards the target. His foot slides between her legs to inch them further apart, his hand lifting the gun for her aim ever so carefully.

It’s hard for her to process what’s coming out of his mouth—there are so many details that she didn’t have before bouncing around her mind. So they worked together, things got close? but it ended up with her trying to kill him? Over what? Money? Drugs? Power? She can tell even from one observation that whatever they had was magnetic, kind of how she feels when she’s around Rio, and for something like that to end so abruptly? So violently? How could they not have unbridled tension and unfinished business?

Especially if it was _more_ than just a partnership.

“It sounds like you admire her.” She says carefully, almost worried about his response.

“I _understand_ her.” Rio replies, “Look, what Carlita and I had, it’s done.” There’s a finality to his words which are comforting but she’s aware that there’s a double-meaning there, like he’s _done_ having this conversation with her. “So you don't gotta worry about our ‘business plans’ being ruined, yeah?”

He takes a few steps back from her and claps his hands together.

“Aight, just like we practiced.”

And Beth fires three bullets off at the chair, one right after the other, hitting the wood with an echoing noise that hurts her ears. After the dust settles, she turns to look at Rio and heat pools in her stomach and spreads like a wildfire as he smiles at her.

“Perfect.”

\--

To say Beth’s nervous about the meeting is an understatement and the only thing that she knows to do when her emotions feel a little unbalanced is bake—which is why her office desk is currently covered in pastries when Rio walks through the doorway.

He pauses at the array, raising an eyebrow because, “There a bake sale I don’t know about?”

She groans, running a hand over her face and pinching the bridge of her nose because, “I know. But I’m not letting all that work go to waste. Maybe orange scones will make Carlita less homicidal.”

Rio snorts and takes a step towards the desk, sticking his hands in his pockets as he looks with interest at the homemade cinnamon rolls, “Doubtful but it’s the thought that counts.” She can feel his eyes land on her, watching the careful moment that she chews on her lower lip and, “You wanna go over it with me?”

She appreciates the offer but shakes her head because regardless of how she feels, she’s got this. Beth knows the inner working of their business, knows the projections over the past month and what they predict for the next. She knows how many cars are coming in and what clients are interested in buying—all they need from Veto is storage, that’s it. It should be simple; they’ve already agreed to work with one another, now it’s about ironing out details.

In all honesty, they both know it’s not Veto she’s concerned about and she lets out a slow breath out of her lungs before turning her gaze onto Rio who’s waiting patiently for her to speak.

“No, I got this.”

“I know you do,” He turns and leans against the desk, careful not to dip his shirt into any pastries. “But you’re shakin’.” Rio reaches out and puts his hand over the one resting on her hip, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. “Try not to overthink it, that’s where most your problems come in.”

She shrugs, her thumb moving to graze along the inside of his palm, “No idea what you’re talking about.”

Rio smirks, his eyes falling to the bakery that’s on her desk. “Nah?” His voice is far too amused for her liking but all she can do is roll her eyes and pull away from him.

She’s about to say something along the lines that if he’s going to make fun of her pastries that he can’t have any, but when she opens her mouth she hears the front door of Boland Motors open and close. Beth looks over her shoulder as Veto and Carlita wander into her office, her stomach doing a ridiculous swoop as she realizes that this is really about to happen.  

Veto instantly reaches forward to shake her hand, “Beth, so good to see you again.”

“And you,” She squeezes his hand before letting go, glancing at Carlita who already has her eyes on Rio. “There’s uh…lots of sweets if you want anything; I like starting off my meetings sometimes with calories.”

Veto chuckles warmly as he nods, taking a step forward to take a blueberry muffin off one of the plates. He exchanges quick pleasantries with Rio and Beth takes a moment to allow her eyes to travel over Carlita, who is walking slowly towards her desk. She’s wearing a casual, form fitting black dress that accentuates her every curve, her long dark hair softly curled at the bottom. She’s beautiful without trying in an unfair way and Beth straightens her back as she watches her skim over the pastries on her desk.

She then smiles at her over her shoulder, “Quaint.”

Before Beth can reply, Veto speaks up, “Carlita. Go outside with Rio, check the parking lot while I confirm a few terms.”

Her eyes snap to Rio, who’s shoulders tighten at the prospect of leaving. His jaw works a moment but it seems he knows better than to try and resist when they’re trying to make this deal go as smooth as possible. It’s not worth all the upset—even when Rio nods his head at her before leaving, a solid _you got this_ unspoken between them before Carlita follows him out, her boots clicking noisily after her wake.

A sense of uneasiness curls around her stomach at them separating, paranoia blooming in her chest that this is somehow the part of a trap they’re not yet seeing. She swallows it all down and leans against her desk, picking up a cinnamon roll for herself.

“Napkin?”

He smiles a little and nods his head, to which she hands him one and starts detailing out the plan for Veto’s involvement with their cars just like she’s practiced.

\--

Rio takes Carlita to the backlot where the cars are, parked, waiting to be driven to clients. He licks his lips and glances over his shoulder at her following. His gut is telling him to go back inside the dealership instead of having whatever conversation he’s going to be forced into in the next few minutes. The blood in his veins starts to bubble as he senses his time being wasted.

_This is all to get Elizabeth alone._

He stands his ground to get it over with, digging his heels into the ground as he motions to the car lot.

“This it?” She asks as he watches her walk down the row; she’s not impressed.

Rio hums, sticking his hands in his pockets as he glances over his shoulder back at the dealership. He don’t have time to deal with this shit or Carlita’s crazy but the last thing he wants to do is ruin the meeting Elizabeth is running.

When he looks back at Carlita, she’s leaning against one of the cars, watching him with keen interest that makes him feel like bugs are skittering under his skin.

“There’s not a lot of cars in this lot.”

He blinks at her, running a hand over his jawline as he takes a step forward. “Yeah that’s kinda the point,” His syllables are slow, like she’s havin’ trouble with the concept, “We got cars waitin’ to be loaded in but we need the space elsewhere. Hence where Veto comes in.”

She taps her fingers on the trunk of the car, “And the drugs?”

“Air bags, sometimes the steerin’ wheel.” He narrows his eyes at her, “Why you askin’ me questions you already got answers to?”

Carlita smiles; it’s somethin’ slow and private that he nearly remembers why he once found her so attractive. “Maybe I miss you.”

That’s some shit; he doesn’t believe her for a minute and Rio takes another step forward but not quite close enough to reach out and touch. She clocks his movements, eyes traveling down his form but he refuses to fuel her fire.

She pouts before rolling her eyes, “Veto wanted some time alone; I don’t think he’s got a good look at your girl yet.” Carlita leans up off the car and closes the distance between them until he has to look down at her, “So…minivan mom, that's your thing now hm?”

“Don’t.” He warns carefully; he’s not goin’ there with her.

Carlita sighs dramatically, her head tippin’ back towards the sky before her hands fall to her hips. “You know, I told Veto you were smart which you’re not exactly proving by working with her.”

Rio bristles because the last thing he needs is her or Veto’s approval; he could give a fuck, “It’s none of your damn business who I work with.”

She’s struck a nerve, she can see it on his face and that same slow smile tugs at her mouth again, “Just work right?” She sounds unconvinced. “Just like we were?”

“It’s nothin’ like you and me.” He tries to shut that down instantly because he knows her, even after all these years he knows Carlita like the back of his hand—she hasn’t changed. She’s trying to get under his skin, peel it back and _look_ and read and count his bones and blood vessels and sink between his muscles.

Carlita’s always been tactile so he knows she’s about to touch him before she does it, her fingertips gliding along his chest, tugging the one string of the hoodie he has on. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.” She whispers.

He needs to go back inside Boland Motors, the last thing he wants to do is fuck up a perfectly good deal because he can’t keep his annoyance in check. “Well she's not stabbin' me quite literally in the back so I’d consider it an improvement.”

Rio turns to leave but she grabs his arm and he whirls around so fast, mostly out of instinct, and presses her back against one of the cars. A sharp gasp leaves her lips as their bodies connect, looking up at him with wide dark eyes that tell him she’s enjoyin’ this.

“You better than anyone knows how this story goes,” She lifts her hand to touch his face but he takes a step back from her before she can. Carlita’s arm hovers in the air a moment between them, a soft smile tugging at the ends of her mouth, “You know how it ends; you're nothin’ more than a decent distraction.” Her eyes travel up and down his body, purposely drawing her lower lip into her mouth.

Rio watches the action, an emotion he can’t single out long enough to identify burnin’ a hole straight through his sternum like a gunshot.

She shrugs then and he recognizes that cool indifference, knows how often he slips into it because it’s easy. “Once she realizes that? Maybe she won’t stab you but she knows how to work a gun, right?”

Carlita winks before brushing past him, heading back into Boland Motors.

\--

Beth hates to associate the fact that everything is going well with dreading the other shoe dropping but by the time Carlita and Rio make their way back inside, she’s finishing up her conversation with Veto.

She throws away their napkins from the pastries she’s made, letting out a soft sigh before joining her hands together—he seems pleased and she is too. She’s proud of how she led the meeting; she only wishes Rio had been there to watch.

“So, is there anything else you need to ask?”

“Other than if you have a to-go container?” Veto smiles at the pastries, a soft laugh escaping Beth’s lips.

“You’ll have to wrap them up in napkins, I’m afraid.” She glances at Rio, who’s leaning against the wall of her office near the door but he won’t meet her gaze.

Carlita hovers like a fruit fly, the tension thick between them and Beth’s stomach drops as she thinks about if something transpired between them while they were outside. She knows him well enough to gage that something’s off; he’s wound up, upset, preoccupied.

Veto clears his throat, pulling her attention from her partner. “As for questions, I believe we covered everything.”

“The lot doesn’t have a lot of cars again, Veto.” Carlita pipes up, looking over at her desk again. She considers a pastry before scrunching her nose.

“Which says nothin’ about our profit,” Rio speaks up but he’s quiet, looking at his hands a moment before addressing Veto head on, “We got cars to move in when you’re ready.”

Veto hums, putting his attention on Beth again. “And you’re sure that twenty cars by the end of the month isn’t a stretch?”

She can see Rio open his mouth, his eyebrows pulling together just slightly but she talks before he can, “Not a problem.”

Carlita takes a bite out of an orange scone before throwing it into the trash and Veto looks pleased before grabbing one more cinnamon roll, “Until the end of the month then,” He nods his head and it’s clear he’s impressed as he speaks again, “You have my number Beth, please don’t hesitate to call if you run into any problems or find you’re earlier than scheduled.”

The moment they leave, she feels like all the oxygen returns to the room. She takes a deep breath and leans against the edge of her desk, closing her eyes a moment to regulate her pulse before fixing her eyes on Rio.

His jaw is doing that rubber band thing again, his hand running along his chin before he fixes her with a look that tells her she’s bitten off more than she can chew. “Twenty cars?”

“We can do it.”

Rio scoffs, shaking his head with a slow smile but he’s not happy. Beth’s seen that expression before, that slow fire building in his chest that makes her feel like she’s out of her depth. “That’s somethin’ we shoulda talked about before you told Veto.”

Her mouth opens a little and his words start a fire in her chest because, “I don’t have to consult you,” She challenges, “I was handling the meeting, I keep track of our books—I know exactly how many cars we can bring in by the end of the month.”

“You’re—” He cuts himself off, shaking his head again and pinching his eyes closed because he doesn’t seem to want to go where he almost takes the conversation. Instead he runs a hand over his face and slowly closes the distance between them.

Beth tilts her head back a little to look up at him and Rio cups the side of her cheek before pressing a kiss against her temple. The touch appears to be intimate but it feels like something cold and sharp is striking her right between her ribs—she doesn’t like his hesitancy, how there’s a distance in his eyes and how he doesn’t linger. For someone who uses their body language so much to get a point across, Rio doesn’t seem to realize how telling it is in moments he tries to keep his guard up.

“I gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow at some point, yeah?”

And then he’s gone like sand slipping through her fingers.

She stands there what feels like forever, the absence of him punching a hole in the center of her chest. Beth takes a deep breath in but that doesn’t seem to help, her knees shaking as she takes a look at the pastries on her desk and just _leaves_ quickly through her office door. Her legs take her where she needs to go, right to his car outside, before he can pull out of the lot.

He makes a noise of protest as she opens the passenger door, pushing herself inside and closing it. Rio opens and closes his mouth, hands hovering on the steering wheel as he stares at her.

“The hell you doin’?”

“We’re not leaving until we talk.” She insists, swallowing as she angles her body towards him. “You might as well shut the engine off.”

The muscles in Rio’s jaw work a moment as he looks out the windshield, hands coming down on the steering wheel and squeezing slightly to make his knuckles white. “Elizabeth—”

“What was that in there?” No, she’s not about to let this conversation slide, they don’t do that shit anymore—they’ve gotten better at communicating, haven’t they?

He pauses a moment, one of his hands leaving the steering wheel as he pinches the bridge of his nose, his eyebrows drawing together before sighing, “I got a headache.”

And maybe he does, but that’s not what the problem is. Beth gives them a moment before she inevitably brings up what they both don’t want to talk about.

“Did something happen with Carlita?” She asks because it’s the only thing that makes sense: Rio left her office fine and came back looking like he was hit by a truck.

She can see his jaw working but he says nothing, instead his eyes are closed when he pulls his hand back from his face. Sometimes, Beth realizes that while she _feels_ like she knows Rio, has been intimately involved with him over the past few months, there’s still so much she doesn’t know about him. Does he get migraines? Is he allergic to anything? How often does he get sick? Does he even have a real doctor?

Beth swallows and looks away from him, down at her lap where her hands are working the fabric of her nude lace business dress between her fingers. This sounds so naïve even before she says it but, “I thought you’d be…happier with everything. Veto seemed impressed by our turn around.”

Then just like something snapping in half, Rio turns to look at her and his eyes are cold and distant, his headache most likely fueling his irritation, “Let me explain somethin’ to you—Veto’s not impressed with our business. He wants up your skirt, his keen interest in there got nothin’ to do with anythin’ other than that.”

She stares at him for a long moment, her mouth opens slightly in—in _embarrassment_ mostly. How can he just…say things like that? That can’t be true. Veto’s been nothing but nice and open to all prospects of business and that has to do with how orderly their operation is…not with—

Beth smooths her fingers out along her dress, white hot anger gripping the bottom of her ribcage because she _hates_ how he’s just made her feel—stripped open and exposed.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” She snaps, hands shaking. “What did Carlita say—”

“Carlita didn’t have to say anythin’ to me,” His voice raises to talk over the tail end of her sentence, the echo hurting her ears in the small space of the car. “All I had to do was watch the tail end of your conversation.”

No; she’s not going to let him turn this conversation around on her. It has _nothing_ to do with her and Veto and everything to do with him and Carlita. What she doesn’t understand is why he’s trying to push her away even though this is typical Rio; he hits a wall he doesn’t want to go through so instead he starts taking it apart and building it up around himself. If some of bricks fall and crush her? then so be it.

“Why are you acting like this?” She asks, one more attempt to get him to be honest.

Rio scoffs out a sound, impatient. “I’m not actin’ like anything, that’s part of your problem. Few mornins’ together and you think we’re about to move in together.”

“ _Stop.”_ Her voice wavers because they can’t talk about this while they’re both so upset, all it’s going to do is crumble around them. Something must have happened and the way he’s behaving is the only evidence she needs—this is _not_ the same Rio that was at her daughter’s birthday a few weeks ago.

“What’s next? We gonna create a registry? Check out tax refunds?”

And that hurts, that hits her where she’s been struggling lately—to fit her working relationship with Rio and the _something_ that she feels towards him into her personal life. But this? Whatever this is, she refuses to let him make her cry over it, regardless of how much she might want to.

So she takes a deep breath and stares straight out the windshield, moisture gathering at the corner of her eyes. The silence in the car blankets over them both, Beth feels it settle so heavily over her shoulders she feels like buckling in on herself.

She leans back against the cool leather of her seat, “Don’t try and diminish this thing between us.” She wishes her voice was stronger, firm, not as emotional and broken as it sounds.

Rio lets out a breath beside her but she doesn’t turn to look—even when his hand settles on her own and squeezes. An apology, she knows, because he rarely says the words ‘I’m sorry’. He brings her hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to her knuckles before dragging it up so his thumb can brush along the side of her cheek where a tear track would be if she let them fall.

The next time he speaks, his voice is softer, exhausted in a way that’s telling. “I think we’re kiddin’ ourselves if we think this is gonna end well.”

She closes her eyes. This conversation didn’t need to happen this way but Rio, while emotionally destructive in the way he tries to push her away, isn’t exactly wrong. Some days she creates this bubble around how it feels to be in his kitchen with him and Marcus, making waffles and teasing about getting a Keurig. But other times it’s that dream with the dirt and the mud and blood and him pushing her further under.

“You’re right,” She sniffles, using her own hand to wipe under her eyes while the other holds his on her lap. Because what else is she supposed to say? “This will probably end terribly.” Beth looks over at him and his other hand comes up when his eyes close, massaging the bridge of his nose. “But isn’t it worth something to try and figure it out?”

Rio’s quiet and for once she’s never really seen this side of him before; the lashing out? The cruel words that burrow deep under her skin? That’s textbook Rio. But this? Quiet and unsure and nursing what looks to be a painful headache—this is different.

She squeezes his hand before letting go, moving across the divide and careful not to bump her head as she reaches to the side of his seat for the lever that tilts it back. He makes a soft noise of surprise as his seat falls back, crawling onto his lap and hiking her skirt up in the tight space of the car. His hands come down on her hips to balance her and a soft laugh leaves her lips because this is…so ridiculous.

He's smiling though, just a little at the corners of his mouth before he leans up. She looks down at him, brushing the tips of their noses together.

“You gonna stab me in the back, Elizabeth Boland?”

Beth cups the side of his face before running a thumb over his eyebrow. “No, I’ll make sure to get you from the front. That’s what real friends do.”

A genuine laugh bubbles up from his throat and he shakes his head a little, “Oh you think you’re funny now, ma?”

“A little.”  She presses a soft kiss against his forehead before doing the same to the bridge of his nose. “How’s your headache?”

Rio hums a little, his eyes zeroing in on her lips as he cups the side of her head, drawing her closer. “What headache?” He mumbles, kissing her.

She leans down into the kiss, his hands traveling up and down her spine, pulling her into his chest. She rolls her hips forward only to get more comfortable in the cramped space but somehow she wants this no other way, being crushed together, dependent on one another’s movements, being able to feel every move he makes and vice versa.

Beth pulls back a fraction, but only to breathe, her eyes tracing his and falling into how dark they are. His lower lip is slightly red and pouted and she kisses it just because she can, Rio’s hand moving to cup the side of her neck and tilt her head up so his lips can find a home there. He traces them down to her collarbone, his hands moving to unzip her dress to gain access to more of her skin.

The lace slides down to her torso, exposing her chest and he stares at her a moment, captured before leaning up to kiss her again. Beth’s hands slip between them, trying to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans. He eventually has to help her with a soft, amused sound.

“You could stop wearing belts.” She suggests, her fingers running along his scalp and he looks up at her with an entertained glint in his eye.

“You could stop wearin’ clothes altogether.” They get his belt off, throwing it aside and she leans up just a little so he can pull his pants down just below his hips, hard cock resting against his stomach.

Beth shakes her head, nose scrunching a little. “That would make PTA meetings really weird.”

Rio cuts her off with another kiss, his hands slipping underneath her dress to find her hips. He squeezes them, thumbs rubbing along the bone there before one slides into her panties. She’s already soaking wet and he groans when his finger brushes along her clit. Beth’s hand finds his shoulder and grips, her head tilting back a little as pleasure shoots up her spine.

“Could make you fall apart just like this.” He whispers, his mouth once again finding her neck and leaving a mark there.

“Don’t.” She says back and he listens, helping her up off his lap just long enough so he can tug her underwear aside and slip inside her.

Beth sinks down, her head falling forward against his shoulder, a choked noise of pleasure leaving her lips. He doesn’t allow her to stay there for long, gently pulling her back so he can look at her and brush his fingers through her hair.

Their foreheads press together, sharing the same air, not moving—not yet. Rio’s breathing is a little uneven and Beth’s thumb traces his lower lip that’s pouting just slightly before leaning down and kissing it again. He tilts his head so that they kiss, grabbing onto one another as she starts to move her hips.

The actions are slow, the rocking into one another, trying to find a rhythm in the small space of the car. Beth wants to lean back but she bumps her head against the hood and Rio laughs, short and sweet, against her lips.

“C’mere, mami.” His voice is warm and cups the back of her head to encourage her to lean down, his body shifting slightly to hopefully make it more comfortable for the both of them.

Beth’s face is tinted a pretty pink as she lets out a soft sigh, kissing his cheek before finding his mouth with her own again. They move seamlessly, taking time to reach their climaxes, a series of patterned moans leaving her mouth as she cums.

Rio kisses along her chest, his scruff dragging along the soft skin of her breasts, sending further shivers down her spine. Her lips rest against his forehead, drawing back only when he helps her off him and into the passenger seat again.

She stretches her legs out with an audible groan, “Probably a good thing that's over with, my legs were starting to cramp.”

“You're the one who jumped me; literally.” Rio grins over at her, fixing his jeans before opening up the car to get out.

Beth draws a long breath into her lungs before she inevitably has to sit up and slide her dress back on correctly. She gets out of the car as well and when she does Rio is already there, leaning against the hood, watching her.

“You gonna clean up all the pastries in there?” He motions to Boland Motors with his chin.

“Why?” She fixes her sleeve and pulls the zipper but struggles to get it up the entire way. He motions for her to turn around so he can help. His fingers slide against the skin of her back, just because, and he pulls the zipper up into place.

“Otherwise Imma eat ‘em.”

She laughs a little, turning to look at him. “ _All_ of them?”

“Nah.” Then he shrugs his shoulder. “Maybe.”

Beth shakes her head, running her fingers through her hair as she starts walking back towards the entrance, “Well you can at least help me get the leftovers into my car, the more you eat the less we have to pack up.”

“Did you offer Veto the same thing?” He asks and his voice is teasing, she _knows_ it’s teasing and she grins over her shoulder as she holds the door open for him.

“What’s that thing you’ve said to me before? _Jealousy looks good on you, ma.”_ And giggles as he quickly spins her around and backs her into a wall to kiss her.

She tilts her head into it, deepening it for a moment before they have to pull back to breathe. “How many times I gotta tell you, I don’t sound like that.”

She smirks and kisses his lower lip. “Oops.”

Rio cups her cheek, running his thumb along his cheekbone before considering her for a moment, chewing on a thought as it runs through his brain. His hand then slips between them and she reaches for his fingers, lacing them loosely just because she can—and he allows her to. The severity of where they’re going with this seems to settle on them both at the same time as her eyes bore into his.

She swallows, doesn’t want to break the moment but she has to ask, “What are we doing?”

He shakes his head, kissing the corner of her mouth as he takes a step back from her, their hands still intertwined. “I dunno,” He sighs out his nose before tilting his head, “But whatever it is, we do it together, yeah?”

She nods and squeezes his fingertips: partners, _together._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading and if you leave comments / kudos. I'm still working on my brio playlist for this series, feel free to check it out! https://blainesebastian.tumblr.com/tagged/pwirb-playlist (and while you're there, you can always leave prompts ;))


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